Aboard the Hogwarts Express Once Again
by Arya Lupin
Summary: With a small amount of dirt on his nose Ron will ask the most important message in his young life.


Aboard the Hogwarts Express Once Again

Fog rolled across the empty platform of 9¾, mixing with the steam of the Hogwarts Express.

With a nervous twitch Ronald Weasley glanced for the ninth time at his wristwatch.

Ten minutes until eleven.

It did not matter that he was no longer in Hogwarts. In order to make sure the events happened in order to how they happened all those years ago, they had to leave directly at eleven.

Spinning on his heel, Ron strolled from one large pillar to the other, trying not to glance again at his watch as he went.

What could have happened to keep Hermione from showing up on time? She was not one to be tardy, ever.

His mind jumped from possibility to possibility, none of which seemingly very likely. The war had ended a while ago. The last of the Death Eaters had been rounded up or where still on the run, hidden in the remote areas where the giants had run to after losing their war.

Still the worry was there.

Hermione Granger was never late for any important event. Of course Hermione did not know just how important this event was going to be. She just thought they had been asked to Hogwarts by McGonagall to help prepare for celebration that always came at the end of the school year now, to mark the end of the battle and the reopening of Hogwarts.

A head poked out from the open door of the Hogwarts Express, the unruly black hair sticking up in every direction.

"She's late," Ron, said aloud, although no one was there to hear him. "We have to leave by eleven…it has to be on schedule." Groaning, Ron turned and strolled back and forth on the platform again, half worried he was going to wear his shoes out before Hermione showed up.

If she showed up!

Ron knew that he needed to calm down before she showed up.

If he didn't then he knew he was going to blow the whole plan within seconds of Hermione stepping onto the platform.

Reaching up with one hand Ron messed his hair so it stood on end in a Harry Potter signature move and continued pasting.

It had taken weeks of planning to get this pulled off. He had to beg and plead with McGonagall to get her to agree.

He still shuddered every time that he thought about what McGonagall had him do to finally get her to agree. He half thought she had been getting revenge for all the rules that he had broken in school—A thought that had been further embedded into his mind by the large smirk McGonagall had been wearing.

He did not want to think what the Headmistress would make him do if he had to ask a second time to do this.

Pausing at the end of one car he breathed a sigh of relief. Hermione stepped through the barrier her bushy brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a smile on her face.

"Sorry!" She said hurrying forward. Ron noted, fondly, that her messenger bag was opening, threatening to spill the contents from within onto the empty ground of platform 9¾. "I had breakfast with Luna and lost track of time!" Reaching Ron she pecked him on the cheek before looking fondly at the Hogwarts Express. "I don't think I have ever seen the platform look so empty…" She commented jumping slightly when the loud train whistle sounded announcing that any strugglers on the platform need to enter the train.

"Best get on," Ron said with a grin giving Hermione a gentle nudge towards the train.

The less he said at this moment, the better it would be. Hermione had a sense of whenever something was wrong or whenever Ron was planning something. "Are the others here? Or are they running later then I am?"

"We'll meet up with them later," Ron said, trying to sound natural and not as if he was about to playing his very first Quidditch game.

They had won the final quidtich game in six year because he had guessed right.

What would happen, though, if he was gambling and it ended up being the wrong kind of gamble?

"How was breakfast with Luna?" Ron asked as they strolled along.

If he kept Hermione talking, then maybe she would not comment on the empty compartments that they were walking by.

He knew it was silly to think, but it just had to be that compartment. The very same compartment where they had first meant. When Ron had thought that Hermione was a bossy little know it all.

"Ronald? Were you listening?" Hermione asked, poking Ron in the ribs.

Ron grimaced; his ribs were still a bit sore from a dark magic round up that he and Harry had gone on a few days back.

"No, she didn't tell me," Ron said, "I bet it's something to do with this big celebration," Ron grinned at her.

A twinge of guilt wormed its way into his stomach as he moved. He had asked McGonagall to call a "meeting" several days back. He knew that Hermione would worry; it had not been that long ago since the war had ended.

His palms felt sweaty as he thought back to the last time he had been inside of the walls of Hogwarts.

Not sense his brother had died.

This wasn't the school, but the Hogwarts Express was a piece of Hogwarts. It screamed of good and bad memories, reminding him of what he had lost. An older brother who would never get the chance to fall in love, to create another prank, to branch out of his joke shop, and to tease his siblings endlessly about something that would be trivial to someone who did not have any siblings.

"You were gone this morning…is everything okay?" Hermione asked reaching out and grabbing Ron's hand.

A thrill of peace rushed through his body as they walked along.

Just like when he had lost Fred. Hermione was right there, offering comfort without knowing that she was offering her comfort.

"Just thinking," Ron said, sidestepping the question that Hermione had just asked him. He did not want to tell her about the thoughts that plagued him, about his brother's death. He had tried so long to not think these thoughts. Sometimes they would creep up on them. "Here," He said just as the train began to leave the station and lead them away from platform nine and three quarters.

He rolled open the door into another empty compartment leading the way over to a seat. He waited until Hermione sat down before he dropped down next to her.

The moment they had sat down, the train began to move.

Ron leaned back in his seat, content. This was so reminiscent of all the train trips they had taken together to get to and from Hogwarts. Quiet often the silence was the lull before the storm.

Yet this time there was no storm coming.

Unless you counted Mrs. Weasley, who would quiet literally drive them all insane with chores to get ready for whatever kind of wedding Hermione and Ron planned.

That was if Hermione said yes to Ron. His stomach rolled at that thought. What if Hermione said no? What if she was not the marrying type? Or if she just did not see her and Ron lasting together for the long run.

Ron rubbed his temples and grinned as he looked out the window at the passing scenery that went by the train window.

Now that they were here, he just needed to wait for Hermione to notice and then…

Well, then he would find out if he really was as brave as he thought.

"It will be nice to see Hogwarts again. You haven't been back since it as finished being rebuilt.. What three years ago now?" Ron asked.

"Yes…" Hermione said curling her feet underneath her and leaning her head on Ron's shoulder so she could look out the window with Ron.

It would be nice to see Hogwarts again to relive the memories of what they had gone through, the memories they had made.

Although it had not been funny when he was in school, he wondered what kind of pranks that Peeves had gotten up too.

According the McGonagall, Peeves had been trying to uphold Fred and George's legacy.

Ron shuddered to think what that would entail.

His brothers had been hell raisers in Hogwarts…until Fred had died…

Ron shook his head, gently masking it to look as though he had been rubbing the side of his face on Hermione head as he attempted to keep his eyes from watering..

He was sure he himself had raised some sort of hell in the years he had been in Hogwarts.

Sure, most of what he did was to help Harry keep Voldemort from coming back. Still, he had broken enough rules to warrant a position as a hell raiser, even if he did not want to admit that to himself.

"I almost feel the need to worry about what classes I need to take and what sort of trouble that we are going to get into," Hermione said grinning.

Ron grinned back, "I was just thinking the same thing, about us and getting into trouble. I was also thinking about Peeves and what sort of pranks he is probably getting up too." He laughed along with Hermione, pecking the top of her head with a light kiss.

"Probably dosing them with water balloons…" Hermione said.

Ron snorted, "Remember that horrid storm that we had…I think fourth year, and Peeves was throwing water balloons at us," Ron said.

Hermione laughed, "I remember that McGonagall nearly strangled me when she came running into the entrance hall."

Ron grinned, he remembered thinking how funny it had been to see their Transfiguration teacher try and keep her balance as she went skating across the water. The fact that she had latched onto Hermione had been icing on the cake. He had, had trouble, not laughing about what happened that night. Now years later, it seemed even funnier to him than it was before.

"I wonder if Neville is back at Hogwarts yet…I mean, obviously, he will be there for the meeting, but I wonder if he is back from holiday to start putting classes together." Hermione said, looking back at Ron a smile dancing in her eyes.

Ron grinned back at her, he knew how great Hermione thought it was that Neville had become a teacher. Something that none of them thought he would do. They had all assumed he would end up like Stan Stumpike. Instead, he turned into one of the heroes of the war, started dating Hannah Abbottt, was an auror for a few years and then became one of the most beloved teachers at Hogwarts.

Rumor had it McGonagall was looking at Neville to take her place as Headmaster when she retired in the next few years. She was not a young witch anymore, the years of war and loss were telling on her face and body. She was slower than ever to smile, her black hair had turned entirely grey and lines surrounded her eyes.

"You can ask him when we get there," Ron said grinning again. Although, he knew Hermione could not see him. She had snuggled her head back into his shoulder and was looking out the window again.

The outside country was already changing, from rural country with houses to wild, untamable, fields that passed by the windows in a haze of burnt green and tall grasses. Outside, clouds rolled across the sky, darkening and then lighting as fast as Ron's mood did.

At times, his body would tense as he thought about what this day meant to him and his family.

The day the war ended.

The day that Ron had ended up laying, side by side, the other dead within the Hogwarts Great Hall.

Memories would never fade about what happened that day.

New memories could be made though; those memories could out shadow the old, sad, memories that held their hearts.

Hermione sat up, pushing a piece of Ron's hair back, knowing that it annoyed him when she did that. Ron gave her a pretend irritated look and then grinned at her touching her noses with his.

"Thinking about the end of the war?" She asked.

"I think it's hard not to think about what happened today. The entire Wizarding Community in the whole of England thinks about it and holds a memorial for it, celebrations…" Ron shrugged half heartedly as he thought about this day.

The day so many lives changed. The day they began to rebuild from the ground up after the world had ended for some.

His mind drifted to Teddy, growing up like Harry without a family. So many orphans had been made that day.

A year later, so many babies had been born.

Ironic, really, how sad things made people want more than most, and were willing to give even more.

"How is your mum holding up?" Hermione asked.

"Best as she can," Ron said shrugging. He did not want to talk about the sad things that happened today three years ago.

Other days he did, but speaking about this was diminishing his courage.

He could feel the weight of the box in his left pocket, the words Harry had said when they had picked it up this morning haunted his mind.

"Remember left hand," Harry had said, grinning at Ron as though this was the funniest thing.

"Thanks Mate," Ron said, "I will remember how helpful you were when you decide to propose."

"We're going to have our normal family get together tonight…cake, candles and red sparks to honor Fred, Remus and Tonks," Ron said, leaning his head back and looking at Hermione full on.

Little did Hermione know Ron was hoping to change this into a celebration instead of a sad affair.

Ron had asked his mother what she thought of him asking Hermione, today of all days. He didn't want to hurt her by drawing away the attention from Fred. Ron still did not think he was going to regain his hearing from how loudly his mother had shrieked when Ron had told her his intentions. Mrs. Weasley had immediately started making plans, over looking the minor detail that Ron had not asked Hermione yet, and Hermione had not said yes. According to Mr. Weasley, who Ron had run into earlier, his mother had been cooking since last night. She was also was refusing to tell anyone why she was cooking such a grand feast.

Thinking about it brought a smile to Ron's face. It was so like Mrs. Weasley to ignore the minor details, like the woman saying yes.

Clouds passed over the sun casting shadows into the train cart and the lanterns', which swung from the overhead racks lit up bright.

"Ron, you have dirt on your nose…just there," Hermione said pointing at Ron's nose.

"I know that…it is for luck," Ron said, feeling beads of sweat start breaking out across his forehead.

"Whatever do you need luck for?" Hermione asked confused.

Ron took a deep breath before sliding off the seat onto his knees.

"Ron…?" Hermione asked.

Ron took another deep breath; this was no harder then riding a broomstick, or winning the big game, or fighting a war. Yet, it felt ten times harder to him.

"Hermione," He said drawling out the box he had put in his pocket earlier. He had thought about a lengthy proposal but words where not his thing…they were Hermione's. She could spin a long-winded speech out of three words. She was amazing. "I—I'm not good with words…you know that…ehhh…ummm…Will you marry me?" Ron asked, flipping the box open to revel he simple red stone ring that he had bought.

Hermione beamed, a smile stretched across her face as she dropped down onto her own knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. "yes!…yes!…yes!…a hundred times yes!"

FIN


End file.
